Ahad Jan fears
for life
Srinagar, June 18: Ahad Jan,
the man who was booked
for hurling a shoe on Chief
Minister in 2010 Tuesday
claimed that he is receiving
threat phone calls from different quarters. “I frequently
receive phone calls and the
callers threaten me of dire
consequences for no apparent
reason,” he said adding the all
these calls come from unknown
numbers and these numbers
are not visible on the display of
the mobile set.
Confirming these claims made
by Ahad Jan, his Counsel Advocate Mudasir Gulzar said that
Jan is getting threat calls from
unknown persons and these
persons have made his life hell.
“My client is telling the truth
and the police should take
cognizance of the matter and
expose those who are after the
life of Ahad Jan,” he said.

Black Bear knocks at
Mufti’s residence
Srinagar, June 18: Panic
gripped the Gupkar residence
of Peoples Democratic Party
president Mehbooba Mufti
when the family and other security men spotted a black bear
inside the lawns of the house.
Sources said that the presence
of an adult black bear created
panic among family members
and they immediately called
Wild Life Department.
Wild Life Warden Central
Kashmir Mohammad Sadiq
said that this black bear used
to roam in adjacent places for
quite some time and today it
entered into the lawns of PDP
president. “We trapped the bear
and released it at Dachigam
Sanctuary,” he said.

Soz releases IRCOn
documentary
Anatnag, June 18: State Congress Chief Professor Saif-u-Din
Soz Tuesday said that all parts
of Jammu and Kashmir will get
connected through rail by the
year 2017. Soz was in Pahalgam
where he dedicated a documentary on the Railways titling
“Train in Kashmir” produced
by IRCON, conceived, and
directed by noted social activist
Dr Israr Sultanpuri.
While releasing the DVD of the
documentary, Prof. Soz said
that it was his dream to have
Kashmir on the Railway map
of India and as the records of
proceedings in the Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha will show that
he had struggled for extension
of Railway Line to Kashmir for
all these years.
“The Railway Travel in
Kashmir valley from Qazigund
to Baramulla has become a
celebration for people and its
heartening to observe that
people in Kashmir never try to
travel without tickets,” he said.
Soz wished that after Qazigund
being connected with Banihal
shortly, the efforts redoubled
to connect Kashmir with
Jammu and Delhi. He also said
that there will be a day when
Jammu will get connected
to Rajouri and Poonch and
Baramulla will get connected
with Kupwara and Uri.

Floriculture
employees observe
hunger strike
Srinagar, June 18: Demanding
the implementation of Labor
Laws, Floriculture employees
who are on hunger strike Tuesday said that if there services
are not continued they will
come on roads along with their
families. According to reports,
Floriculture Employees observed a hunger strike at Sheri-Kashmir Park in Srinagar on
Tuesday and demanded that
the department their services
should be continued as prescribed in the Labor Laws.
“We being the casual labors are
being forced to stay at home for
two months. We want continuity of our services round the
year like other employees.
See Strike on Pg. 11

Certain elements trying to create
a wedge between faiths: Omar

Leh, June 18:

Certain elements want to create
a wedge between the followers of
different faiths for their vested
interests, Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
said on Tuesday and called for
nurturing communal harmony
in the state.
"All religions teach amity and
brotherhood and create conducive atmosphere in the society
for all to grow equitably and in
a peaceful environment," Omar
said at a function here.
He was addressing a congregation of thousands of devotees at
Lamayuru, a remote village in
this district of Ladakh region,
after inaugurating Great Fotang
Shrine and Amphitheatre. "Certain elements, for their vested
interests, want to create a wedge
between the followers of different faiths and disturb the peace
of the world," Omar said.
He said no religion preaches
hatred but holds high, the principals of humanity and brotherhood. Omar said peace and coexistence of the people of different

Srinagar, June 18:

faiths and cultures makes the
society strong and ensures equitable development of all.
The Chief Minister said pilgrim
tourism constitutes an important aspect of the state's tourism
and all the three regions-Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh posses rich pilgrim destinations.
He said renowned religious
scholars and preachers have
contributed a lot to keep the candle of communal harmony alive
and inculcate the spirit of love,
brotherhood and mutual respect

for each other in the hearts and
minds of people.
The chief minister said that his
government has taken new initiatives to showcase Ladakh's
tourist potential and attract
more and more visitors here.
He also referred to the beauty of
Lamayuru. The Fotang Shrine
and Amphitheatre has been
constructed by Tourism department and the Centre has granted
Rs 1.07 crores for its construction.
It will promote pilgrim tour-

NC leadership reacts to
Army stand on AFSPA
Srinagar, June 18:
Reacting to a statement
of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command Lt General K T Parnaik where
he had said that that the
revocation of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)
might put at stake the
"fragile" peace existing
in Jammu and Kashmir,
National Conference today took a dig at army
for becoming hurdle in
AFSPA revocation with
National
Conference
Member parliament Mehboob baig terming it a
threat to democracy.

“In a democratic country political statements
issued by Army could
prove dangerous. I fail
to understand in what
capacity Lt General K
T Parnaik has given
such statement when we
have an elected government .Such decisions
are to be taken by elected
Chief Minster not by
Army. Government of
India should stop Army
from issuing such statements,” Baig told KNS.
Baig further said, “AFSPA should at least be revoked form the peaceful
areas. If army claims that
peace has returned to the
Valley then why they

oppose its revocation?,
adding that militants can
strike with or without
AFSPA so it is wrong to
say AFSPA is necessary
to maintain peace”.
Meanwhile commenting
on the statement of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern
Command Lt General K
T Parnaik,National conference general secretary Mustafa kamal said,
“Army is trying to scuttle
the revocation of the act
to save its troops from accountability. Army has
no role in revocation of
AFSPA .If army claims
that Act is need for
See nC on Pg. 11

ism in the area and help generate wide-ranging economic
activities for the people in
this remote are, an official
spokesman said. He said the
shrine will also be utilised to
observe the Great Snake Year
2013, which comes after every
twelve years.
Besides, people from all parts
of Ladakh and the state, a huge
number of tourists from foreign
countries have arrived here to
observe the Great Snake Year,
the spokesman said.

Srinagar, June 18:
The families of three youth
who were killed in fake
Machil encounter in April
2010 have alleged that no action has been taken against
the guilty and all the culprits involved should be
brought to justice without
any delay.
The mothers off all the
three unfortunate youth
said that killers are roaming free while the Army has
taken no action against the
culprits. “The probe was
mere an eyewash and even
after three years nothing

large numbers and protested against shortage

Verbal duel between
Lone and Akhtar
Srinagar, June 18: The district development board
meeting in Bandipora on Tuesday witnessed a verbal duel between the ruling National Conference
Minister Mohammad Akbar Lone and opposition
PDP legislators over some infrastructure issues
raised by the latter.
Sources said that the ‘face-off’ took place when
PDP MLA Nizamuddin Bhat raised some development and infrastructure issues of the district
during the meeting chaired by Congress minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir. They added that Lone
interrupted Bhat and asked him that the issues
raised fell in the domain of the Assembly and he
should raise it there. Lone also ridiculed the PDP
members for boycotting the Assembly during the
budget session in March this year, the sources
said. According to sources at this point, PDP MLC
Naeem Akhtar intervened and urged Mir that the
meeting should not be politicized.
Sources said that Lone lost his cool and entered
into a verbal brawl with Akhtar. The duo according to sources used “uncivilized” language against
each other. “Lone abused me so I left the meeting
midway,” Nayeem Akhtar while confirming the
happening during the board meeting said.

of electricity in the area.
They were also alleging

that Power Development
Department has dispatched them fatty bills
and they are surprised
that how the department
can charge them huge
bills when there is no
electricity in the area.
Reports said that a huge
contingent of police
reached the spot and
asked the protesters to
disperse. However, they
refused after which
See Protests on Pg. 11

concrete was done to ‘hang’
the killers.
Zahida Banoo mother of 19
years old Mohammad Shafi
Lone son of Abdul Rashid,
Naseema Bano mother of
Reyaz Ahmed Lone and
Aisha mother of Shahzad
Khan demanded that probe
should be immediately completed and killers should be
hanged.
“Our innocent sons were
lured by Abbas Shah, the
territorial army jawan,
Basharat Lone and Abdul
Hamid Bhat, while for sake
of promotions and rewards
Army Colonel D K Patha-

On 10 June 2013, a protest petition was filed by
Adv. Parvez Imroz on
behalf of the survivors of
Kunan Poshpora mass
rape against the closure
report of the Jammu and
Kashmir Police, before
the Judicial Magistrate,
Kupwara. On 13 June 2013,
the Chief Prosecuting Officer [CPO] filed objections,
and today, oral arguments
were made before the
Magistrate.
The protest petition argued that the police investigations were incomplete
and clearly mala fide as
despite having the information on file regarding
the involvement of 125 personnel of 4th Rajputana
Rifles, the police had not
questioned them and neither was an identification
parade conducted. The
Judicial Magistrate Kupwara while acknowledging the submissions made
See Rape Case on Pg. 11

Hurriyat leader
held with
hawala cash

3 years on, mothers
wait for justice

Several injured in Police Action in South Kashmir
Anantnag, June 18:

Judicial Magistrate Kupwara J. A. Geelani, while
dismissing the conclusions made by the police
in the recently filed closure report in the case of
Kunan Poshpora mass
rape of 23-24 February
1991 has returned the case
file to the police, asking
for “further investigation
to unravel the identity of
those who happen to be
perpetrators”.
As the demand by the
survivors was for the reinvestigation by Special
Investigation Team (SIT),
headed by an officer of
Senior
Superintendent
of Police (SSP) rank, the
court while mentioning
the lack of authority in
ordering SIT, asked the
further investigation to
be conducted by an officer
not below the rank of SSP
and within a time bound
period of 3 months.

Machil fake encounter

Protests against erratic power
supply turn violent
Several persons were
injured in Kannelwan
area of South Kashmir’s
Bijbehara town when
police allegedly resorted
to tear gas shelling and
lathicharge to disperse
the villagers protesting
against shortage of electricity in the area.
Eyewitnesses said that
people from Kannelwan
village assembled in

Kunan Poshpora
mass rape case
re-opened

Srinagar, June 18:

nia, Major Maurya, Major
Upinder, Subedar Satbir,
Hawaldar Bir Singh, Sepoys
Chandra Bhan, Nagendra
Singh and Narendra Singh
killed them in cold blood,”
they said adding that probe
is going on snail’s pace.
They said mere suspension
or relieving of Army officers from their posts can’t
give them justice. “We want
that culprits should be given stern punishment so that
no one in future will dare
to commit such a heinous
crime for sake of rewards
and awards,” they said.
See Fake encounter on Pg. 11

A Hurriyat Conference
(Mirwaiz group) leader has
been arrested with alleged
hawala cash of nearly Rs
1 lakh recovered from his
possession, police said today. Police intercepted Farooq Ahmad's car yesterday
at Thanamandi in Rajouri
district with a search of the
vehicle yielding Rs 95,000 in
cash, a police official said.
Ahmad, who was arrested
following the discovery, is
now being questioned to
ascertain the source of the
money and its destination,
police added.
A case has been registered
See Hawala Cash on Pg. 11

60 additional companies of CRPF being deployed

Security beefed up for
Amarnath Yatra

Srinagar, June 18:
Security has been beefed
up for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra which is scheduled to start in the next few
days. With additional companies of the police forces,
Army and CRPF have also
been called for security.
Sources told said that government have made multidimensional plans for fool
proof security apart from
district police, additional
companies of Police, army

and CRPF will look after the
security arrangements.
Special strategy has been
devised to prevent any untoward incident. Special
directions have been made
to the Road Opening Party
(RPO) for the surveillance
of the pilgrimage route under their control and placement of security forces on
the yatra route have also be
completed a high police official said.
All the police stations have
been directed to keep a vigil

in the adjoin areas as well
as the yatra route. Security
personnel have been put on
alert.
Meanwhile sources in
Home department said, “To
avoid any possible militant
strikes during the coming
Amarnath pilgrimage from
Jammu to south Kashmir
Himalayas, the Jammu and
Kashmir Government is
planning to specify places
for the brief halt of pilgrims'
convoy.
See Security on Pg. 11

Monsoon rains wreak havoc, 81 killed,
thousands missing
New Delhi, June 18:
Monsoon rains wreaked fresh
havoc in northern India leading
to flash floods, cloudbursts and
landslips as the death toll climbed
to 81 and hundreds of pilgrims
bound for Himalayan shrines remained stranded.
Landslides left scores of tourists
and pilgrims stranded in the hill
States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh while thousands
have been displaced in Uttar
Pradesh where several rivers are
in spate.
Flash floods, cloudbursts and
landslips have claimed 52 lives
in Uttarakhand while damaging
175 houses across the State. Officials said that the toll could rise
manifold as there were many ar-

eas where rescue teams are yet to
reach.
Rudraprayag was the worst hit
with 20 people reported dead and

73 buildings, including 40 hotels,
along the banks of the Alaknanda
swept away in the swirling waters of the river.

A total of 71,440 pilgrims bound
for the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri
and Yamunotri are stranded in
Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts of Uttarakhand
with the famous char dham yatra
having been suspended due to
massive damage to the road network.
While 27,040 devotees are stranded in Chamoli, Rudraprayag and
Uttarkashi have 25,000 and 9,850
stranded pilgrims, Disaster Management authorities said.
More than a dozen helicopters
have been deployed in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for
relief and rescue operations with
officials saying that all stranded
people are expected to be
See Killed on Pg. 11

C
M
Y
K

Rape Case...........

has mentioned in the judgment that, “Until date the
investigating agency has not unveiled the identity of the
culprits despite having a clear cut nominal role of 125
suspects”
The response of the State, through the CPO Aashiq Hussain
was “unsurprisingly bad in law, and deeply disrespectful of
the victims of Kunan Poshpora,” said a statement of
Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society. First, they
argued that there was no right of filing a protest petition, a
position unmindful of the law. Second, the State argued
that the protest petition was being filed to allow other
victims to get cash compensation, and that the victims
appeared to have woken up after 22 years and the protest
petition was barred by laches. While rejecting the submissions of the CPO, the Judicial Magistrate, Kupwara upheld
the right to file the protest petition and further observed
that, “The instant final report ought to have been forwarded
to the Magistrate way back on 12th October 1991.”
“After 22 years of cover-ups and delay, the State conveniently blocked the High Court PIL and now was shamelessly attempting to block the victims’ remedies before the
Judicial Magistrate. Instead of taking the responsibility for
delay and denial of justice, the State has chosen to malign
the victims and choke any remedies for the survivors of
Kunan Poshpora,” the statement added.
“Today’s order is an achievement of the struggle of the
Kunan Poshpora people along with those who supported
their demand for justice. This will surely inspire many
more victims of the recent past to wake up and fight for
justice in their cases,” it said.

Hawala Cash...........

at Thanamandi police station as the investigation continues
in the matter, police said.

Fake Encounter...........

Pertinently, Colonel D K Pathania, Major Maurya, Major
Upinder, Subedar Satbir, Hawaldar Bir Singh, Sepoys
Chandra Bhan, Nagendra Singh and Narendra Singh and
Abbas Hussain Shah of the Territorial Army (TA) besides
two civilians Basharat Lone and Abdul Hamid Bhat have
already been charged under sections 302 (murder),
364(abduction), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34
(common intent) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) for
allegedly conspiring and kidnapping three youths from
Sopore on the pretext of giving them jobs and later killing
them in the higher reaches of Kupwara claiming they were
terrorists.

NC............

them for counter insurgency then it would have save four
army men in tral,”Kamal said.
“Time has come when GOI should revoke the law beyond
the interests of Army as they used it as shield in their
unlawful activities”. He said, “Army have committed
“heinous crimes “in Kashmir and is actually misused the
act for their personal interest. Army is actually aware that if
this law is removed from the scene they will be held
answerable for their unlawful activities”, Kamal said.

Protests............

police resorted to baton charge, and lobbed tear gas shells
to quell the protesters. several people sustained injuries and
were rushed to Bijbehara Hospital for treatment.
Eyewitnesses said police stopped a biker Wakil Ahmed
Wani son of Ghulam Mohammad Wani from Wularhama
Pahalgam and thrashed him mercilessly. “Policemen hit his
head with gun buts and he was immediately shifted to
SKIMS,” one of the protestors said.
Protestors blamed SDPO Bijbehara for using force on the
peaceful protestors without any provocation. “We were
addressing our problems to Tehsildar Abdul Rashid of the
area and without any provocation police charged on us with
lathi’s and gun buts,” they said. Tehsildar also got injured
during the clashes.
The agitated protestors later on resorted to stone pelting
and the clashed between the police and protestors continued for hours. Some of the injured have been identified as
Saleeqa Bano, Imram Ahmed Tantray, Shafia Jan, Irsahd
Ahmed Shah and Shabir Ahmed Shah.
“The power supply in our area has been totally erratic and
the Power Development Department (PDD) does not even
follow their own schedule,” said the villagers. They said
that for last one month their village is completely reeling
under darkness.
The locals accused the police of using force on the peaceful
protesters.
“We were protesting peacefully and were even not
hampering the movement of vehicles but the police
unnecessarily used force on us,” the locals said. They
alleged the police did not even spare women and children
and beat them too.
Sub Divisional Police Officer, Bijbehara Sreedhar Patil
denied using any force. “The protesters were blocking the
traffic and though we tried to convince them but they did
not budge after which we had to resort to mild lathi-charge
to disperse them and restore the traffic,” he told CNS
adding that protestors pelted stones even on Tehsildar who
got injured while the police had no option but to react.
Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner Islamabad,
Ghulam Mohammad Dar visited the spot and assured
people that prompt action will be taken against policemen
if it was proved that they used force on peaceful protestors
without any provocation.

Security............

The Government has also fixed timings for the passage of
convoys through various points enroute the 300-km long
Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Sources also said this
is being done in view of the recent spurt in militant
activities in various parts of the state.
IG CRPF V S Yadu said that 60 additional companies of
CRPF are being called for providing security to the
pilgrimage. “60 additional companies of CRPF are coming
in the state for the Amaranth yatra security.” Yadu said.

Killed..........

evacuated soon. Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh said
food, medicines and blankets were air-dropped in remote

Daily
areas of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. “We have
provided seven helicopters to Uttarakhand. The State
government has also hired four private helicopters. We
are providing helicopters to Himachal Pradesh.
Hopefully, all stranded people will be evacuated today,”
Mr. Singh said in New Delhi. Himachal CM airlifted
Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was
stranded in Kinnaur district for nearly 60 hours due to
landslides, was evacuated this morning by a chopper
hired by his Congress party. Mr. Singh was airlifted
after rains abated and the weather cleared. Rescue
operations continued in full swing in the rain ravaged
tribal Kinnaur district with about 150 persons rescued
from Sangla and Rekong Peo and dropped off at
Rampur till evening by one state and two IAF choppers
which made about 15 sorties. A high alert has, meanwhile, been issued in Uttar Pradesh following heavy
rainfall across the state and the release of water by
several barrages in the past 24 hours. Four persons were
killed in rain-related incidents in the State. While three
teenagers were killed in Maharajganj after being struck
by lightning, a woman was killed and six others injured
when a house collapsed in heavy rains in
Muzaffarnagar. Sources said that the Sharda was
flowing above the red mark at Palia Kalan with
directives having been issued to evacuate 44 villages in
the Mahsi area in Bahraich. Met sources, however, said
that there could be a decrease in rainfall soon although
they also warned of heavy showers in isolated areas of
eastern UP in the coming 24 hours. According to
Central Water Commission sources, the levels of
Sharda, Rapti, Ghaghra, Burhi Rapti, Rohin and Kuano
rivers were constantly on the rise. A report from
Bahraich said that with the release of 4 lakh cusecs from
Nepal through Banbasa barrage, the threat of floods
was imminent in the district. The release of water in
Narora means that about 100 villages on the banks of
the Ganga and the Ram Ganga in Farrukhabad district
faced a threat of flood. U.P. Principal Secretary
(irrigation), Deepak Singhal said that in the wake of the
current situation, all divisional, district magistrates and
other officers have been directed to remain vigilant and
take necessary steps to deal with the emergency. He said
that of the 75 districts in the State, 23 were very
sensitive and 11 sensitive from the flood point of view.
Mr. Singhal added that 45 flood control rooms have
been set up while 110 wireless centres, too, are
operational with help from police. Haryana witnessed a
decrease in rainfall following heavy showers yesterday,
particularly in the Yamunanagar and Karnal districts.
There had been an alarming increase in the level of the
Yamuna, with a record 8.06 lakh cusecs flowing
through Hathni Kund barrage yesterday prompting
authorities to sound a high alert in districts of Karnal,
Panipat, Sonipat and Faridabad. But the water flowing
through the barrage has continued to decrease and, at 10
a.m. on Tuesday, was around 1.73 lakh cusecs. Bhakra
dam near upper limit In Punjab, Amritsar (9.5 mm),
Patiala (trace rains) and Nakodar (5 mm) were among
the few places to receive light rains while the level of
the Bhakra dam on Tuesday touched 1,595.04 feet. The
reservoir’s upper limit is 1,680 feet. “There is no reason
for any alarm as of now. The present level is normal for
the rainy season considering that monsoon has arrived
early this season,” a Bhakra Beas Management Board
official said.

Strike..........

Besides, the Floriculture department due to unknown
reasons does not implement Labor Laws,” one of the
protestors told CNS adding that if our demands are not
fulfilled the employees along with their families will
come on roads.

SKIMS hosts Conference
S r i n a g a r , J u n e 1 8 : on new advances in related
D e p a r t m e n t o f field which is critical to
Nephrology SKIMS is remain abreast with latest
organizing three day long developments in the field.
17th Annual Conference of Organising committee of
North Zone Chapter of the conference informed
I n d i a n S o c i e t y o f the conference will
Nephrology from 21 to deliberate on critical topics
23nd June 2013 at SKICC such as infections of the
Srinagar.
urinary tract, kidney
Director & EOSG, SKIMS transplantation, acute and
Dr. Showkat A. Zargar has chronic kidney diseases,
c o m p l i m e n t e d t h e prevention of various
department of nephrology k i d n e y d i s e a s e s ,
for hosting the conference. g l o m e r u l o p a t h i e s ,
Such events not only nutrition and chronic renal
providing a world-class failure. Besides, deliberascientific programme, but tions will be held on the
also reflecting the unique preventive nephrology.
role of the National and The conference will be
International Societies' attended by more than 100
efforts to advance renal d e l e g a t e s f r o m t h e
care in both the developed country and abroad and
and the developing world. will deliver lectures and
Medical experts participat- share experiences on
ing in the event share their various aspects of kidney
perspectives and deliberate diseases.

D.M for strict adherence
to pollution control norms
Pulwama, June 18: District
Magistrate, Pulwama, Mr.
Manzoor Ahmad Lone,
accompanied by the
Regional Director J&K
Pollution Control Board
and officers of Police
Administration inspected
various Cement
Manufacturing Units in
Wuyan area of Tehsil
Pampore today.
The District Magistrate
exhorted for strictly
adhering to pollution
control norms and took

serious note of the non
adherence of pollution
control norms by some of
the cement manufacturing
plants.
As many as 15 days time
was given to J&K Cement
Manufacturing Limited
Khrew to install necessary
pollution control equipment’s failing which the
unit shall be sealed. At the
same time Dawar Cement
Manufacturing Plant
Khrew was sealed causing
the public nuisance.

Srinagar, June 18: Deputy Chief
Minister Mr. Tara Chand has said that
need of the hour is to change education
policy in the State and in this regard a
Board has already been constituted to
review the same. The Deputy Chief
Minister was addressing an Education
conference held at Magam village in
district Budgam today. The conference was organized by Jammu and
Kashmir Teachers Forum.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that a
Board has also been constituted in
Education Department which will
check and monitor the fee structure of
all Private Education Institutions. Mr.
Tara Chand said that education being a
vital sector continues to receive the
attention of the Government and
efforts will be made to plug the gaps, if
any.

He asked the teaching community to
imbibe among students knowledge
about various facets of education and
also inculcate moral value based
education among the students during
their daily morning assembly. The
Deputy Chief Minister directed all the
Chief Education Officers and Zonal
Education Officers to convene
parents-teachers meet at regular
intervals. Responding to the charter
of demands put-forth by the J&K
Teachers Forum, the Deputy Chief
Minister said that government is keen
to solve all genuine demands of the
teachers. He said that most of the
demands have been fulfilled and rest
of the genuine issues will be solved in
a phased manner. He said 12,000
promotion orders under different
categories have been issued during

last 6 months. He said 22,000 vacant
posts of lecturers and teachers have
been referred to Public Services
Commission and Services Selection
Board and hoped that the selection
process will be completed soon. He
said that the government has recently
accorded sanction for engagement of
ReT teachers in the schools near
Actual Line of Control, far-flung and
backward areas.
The demands put-forth by the forum
included release of six months’ salary
of SSA teachers, 6th pay commission
arrears in favour of head teachers,
release of 10 percent state share to the
teachers appointed under new pension
scheme and appointing of teachers on
contractual basis at elementary and
secondary level for academic
arrangements.

Daylong workshop held

Malik held on
way to Chenab
State Disaster Management Plan to be
Valley
prepared by Tata Institute of Social Science
Srinagar, June 18: To frame
the modalities for the
preparation of state level
disaster management plan,
a daylong state level
workshop was organised by
National Disaster
Management Authority
(NDMA) in collaboration
with the Revenue
Department here today.
Finance Commissioner,
Revenue, Mr. Arun Kumar
while speaking on the
occasion emphasized for
proactive approach for
designing disaster
management plan for the
State. Keeping in view the
significance of disaster
management besides
vulnerability of the area to
high wind velocity, land
sliding and heavy snow fall,
Dr. Kumar exhorted upon
the stakeholders to share
their responsibilities for
finalisation of the frame
work to develop the module
for the disaster management. He also stressed for
conducting capacity
building programmes and
collection of primary data
throughout the state. He
also urged for putting in
efforts for micro planning
to mitigate the concerns at
the grass root level.
Pertinently MDMA in
association with the
Revenue Department has

engaged Tata Institute of
Social Science to develop
the state disaster plan
(SDMP) for the state.
Threadbare discussions
were held for developing
mechanism for disaster
reduction plans, mock drills
besides creating effective
awareness among the
people. Provisions of
Educational Institutes,
health care institutions,
public transport and
evacuation were also
discussed.
It was given out during the
deliberations that Disaster
Management Centres shall
be set up in every district of
the State. Tata Consultancy
of Social Sciences also gave
PowerPoint presentation on
the functioning of the
emergency operation
centres and utility of
disaster management on the
occasion.
Collection of date about
vulnerability to national
and manmade disasters
across all the regions of the
state was also taken care of
during the workshop.
Divisional Commissioner,
Kashmir, Mr. Shailendra
Kumar on the occasion
assured that all possible
assistance shall be made
available for preparation of
Disaster Management Plan
by the Divisional

Administration and
informed that 13 Seismo
metres are being installed at
different locations in the
Valley.
Member, National
Management Authority, Dr.
Muzaffar Ahmad while
addressing said that
necessary building codes
shall be strictly adhered to
during infrastructure
development especially in
health and education
sectors in the State. He also
stressed for organizing
awareness campus to
acquaint the people
residing in active seismic
zone about the measures to
be taken during disaster
management.
Among others settlement
Commissioner, Mr. Latiefu-Zaman Deva, Additional
Director General of Police
Home Guards Civil
Defence and SDRF, Ms.
D.R. Doly Barman Deputy
Comrs of Srinagar, Doda
and Kishtwar, Director
Ecology Environment and
Remote Sensing, Dir.
Metrology, Joint Secretary,
NDMA, Consultants of
TATA Institute of Social
Sciences led by Professor T.
J a y a r a m a n a n d D r.
Balamurugan Guru besides
officers of the State
participated in the
workshop.

Srinagar, June 18: Chairman
JKLF Mohammad Yasin
Malik and dozens others were
today arrested while going
towards Doda Kistwar for
distribution of relief among
the victims of earthquake.
According to reports, Malik
and his associates were
stopped by police Sangam
Islamabad and they were
immediately taken into
custody and lodged in Police
Station Awantipora.
Pertinently, Police had not
allowed Malik to distribute
relief in Chenab Valley and
was arrested along with his
supporters last month.
Spokesman of JKLF while
condemning his arrest said
that once again stopping
JKLF from reaching to their
affected brethren in Doda,
Bhelasa, Baderwah and
Kishtwar has exposed all the
tall claims of democracy by
India.
“Not speaking of organizing
peaceful meetings, there is a
blanket ban on social work,
providing relief to victims
of natural catastrophes and
uttering a word of truth
even,” spokesman said
adding that today people of
Chenab Valley are suffering
from a natural catastrophe
and no one among the rulers
has reached to their rescue
and provided them any
relief.

LA panel for extending
duration of session at Sgr
Srinagar, June 18: The
Ethics Committee of the
State Legislative Assembly
has suggested extending the
time duration of the
assembly session at
Srinagar to at least one
month on the pattern of
session being conducted at
Jammu.
The Committee which met
here today under the

chairmanship of MLA, Mrs.
Bimla Luthra was of the
view that extending the time
duration of the session at
Srinagar will serve the
people in a better way and
will also provide opportunity to the people of the
Valley to get their problems
redressed without travelling
to Jammu which is a time
consuming process.

DDC chairs DLRC meet

Rajouri, June 18: District
Development Commissioner,
Rajouri, F C Bhagat on
Tuesday chaired the District
Level Review Committee
(DLRC) meeting which was
among others attended by
AGM RBI, Gopal Dass,
DDM NABARD, Des Raj
and district officers of line

departments and bankers.
LDM, Arvind Kapoor briefed
the house about the achievement of banks under annual
action plan 2012-13. He
informed that against an
annual target of Rs.14952
lakh total achievement was
Rs.13909 lakh under priority
sector.

Documents Lost

I have lost all documents of my vehicle bearing No. JK16-1426. Now I
have applied for its duplicate. Anybody having any objection regarding
this may produce the same to ARTO Ganderbal within seven days from
the date of publication of this notice. After that no objection will be
entertained.
Mushtaq Ahmad Dar S/o Mohammad Abdullah Dar
R/o Ganderbal Ph. No: 9906408511, 9622423144

D.D

11 Wednesday, 19 June 2013
From Front Page........

Office of the Assistant Regional Transport Officer, Anantnag

NOTICE
Whereas an application has been received from one Shabeer Ahamad
Wagay S/o Mohd Sultan Wagay R/o Nowgam Shangus owner of vehicle
No. JK03C 1945 for cancellation of hire purchase agreement with M/s
S.B.I Bank Anantnag. Now it is therefore notified for general
information that objection if any to the proposed cancellation/
endorsement of hire purchase agreement shall be filled in writing in the
office of ARTO Anantnag within a period of seven days from the
publication of this notice.
No: 2619/M.V.D/ANG
Asstt. Regional Transport Officer
S.W
Dated: 16/06/2013
Anantnag

tourism constitutes an important aspect
of the State’s tourism and all the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh possess rich pilgrim destinations. He said his
government is actively engaged in showcasing this speciality of the State and cre-

country and the world for it’s this mannerism and great writers, historians have
eulogized the people and the State for it’s
this attitude and character.
The Chief Minister also talked about
the natural beauty of Ladakh region and

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Tuesday
said that the strength of Jammu and Kashmir is in its trait of communal harmony
and unity in diversity. He underscored the
need for its strengthening and nurturing.
Addressing a congregation of thousands of devotees at Lamayuru, a remote
village in Leh district of Ladakh region after inaugurating Great Fotang Shrine and
Amphitheatre here, the Chief Minister said
that all religions teach amity and brotherhood and create conducive atmosphere in
the society for all to grow equitably and in
a peaceful environment.
Omar Abdullah said that certain elements for their vested interests want to ate different pilgrim tourist circuits to rope said that this mountainous area possesscreate wedge between the followers of dif- in pilgrims from all over the country and
ing rare fauna, flora and lakes has always
ferent faiths and disturb the peace of the the world to visit holy places in the State roped in visitors and nature lovers from
world. He said no religion preaches hatred and pay obeisance at the Shrines of differall over the world. He said his government
but holds high, the principals of humanity ent faiths.
has taken new initiatives to showcase
and brotherhood. He said peace and coexThe Chief Minister said that Jammu
Ladakh’s tourist potential and attract more
istence of the people of different faiths and
and Kashmir is abode of various faiths, and more visitors here. He also referred to
cultures makes the society strong and en- religions and cultures. He said the rethe beauty of Lamayuru.
sures equitable development of all.
nowned religious scholars and preachers
The Fotang Shrine and Amphitheatre
Omar Abdullah also talked about have contributed a lot to keep the candle
has been constructed through Tourism
State’s rich culture and heritage and said of communal harmony alit and inculcate
Department and Government of India has
Lone News Agencythe
Kangan
Khan News Agency
Ganderbal
that people from all over the world keep
spirit of love, brotherhood and mutual
granted Rs. 107.54 lakhs for its construcGulzar
News
Agency
Soura
Zahid
Book
Depot
Chadoora
coming here to witness this beauty of the
respect for each other in the hearts and
tion. It will promote pilgrim tourism in
people alongwith scenic
splendour
and minds
of people.
the areaNowhatta
and help generate wide-ranging
Tariq
News Agency
Hawal
Bashir News Agency
natural beauty.
Omar Alamgari
Abdullah said
thatBudshah
Jammu and
activities
for the people in this
Muzaffar Ali News Agency
Bazar
Newseconomic
Agency Lal
Chowk
The Chief Minister said that pilgrim
Kashmir holds respectable place in the remote area.

also chairman of DDB, Bandipora. The plan includes
Capital component of Rs.
5097.39 lakh and revenue
component of Rs. 1919.54
lakh against last years’ approved annual plan of Rs.
6842.43 lakhs. During the
last fiscal an expenditure of
Rs. 6344.02 lakhs has been
incurred on development of
the District under various
sectors thereby registering
99.46 percent utilization.
Against the current year’s
approved District Plan, an
amount of Rs. 11.20crore
would be expended on vari-

Minister of State for Animal
and Sheep Husbandry, Mr
Nazir Ahmad Gurezi, Member Parliament, Sherief-uddin Shariq, MLA, Bandipora,
Nizam –ud-din Bhat, Legislators, Nayeem Akhtar and
Ghulam Nabi Monga were
present in the meeting.Addressing the meeting, the
Chairman stressed upon
the concerned officers to
achieve optimum results
for development of core
sectors in the district. He
underscored the need for
making focused attention
towards improvement in

take on board the public representatives while formulating any developmental project of public utility, so that
the demands of people of all
the areas are accommodated
equitably.
Calling for concerted efforts for making J&K a prosperous State, Mir asked the
concerned for full utilization
of funds provided by the
Government of India for developmental purposes under
several flagship programmes.
He also asked them to use local resources for the welfare
of the people of the State.

Minister for Higher Education, Mohammad Akbar Lone Tuesday said that
government led by Chief Minister, Omar
Abdullah has taken several initiatives for
the upliftment and development of the
weaker and backward sections of the
society. He said extending basic amenities including supply of portable drink-

addressing a large gathering of people
during his tour to GundBoon area of
Sonawari constituency. The Minister was
accompanied by the officers of R&B, PHE,
Irrigation and Flood Control and other
departments.
The Minister also took stock of various
developmental works being executed in
various villages of Gundboon. He also inspected water supply scheme and filtra-

Gul tours Eidgah
constituency
SRINAGAR, JUNE 18: The Speaker Legislative Assembly,
Mubarak Gul Tuesday conducted a whirlwind tour of different
areas of his Eidgah Constituency including Syed Mansoor Asthan, Nawakadal, Syed Hameed Pora, New colony Syed Hameed
Pora, Jamaloto chowk Nawakadal, Nawa Bazaar, Malbab Saheb
Shrine, Tangpora Nawakadal, Mirjampora, Nawakadal, Goorkocha Nawabazaar, Noorbagh, Tibetan Colony opposite Eidgah
Park and took stock of various under construction development
works.
Gul during his visit to Nawabazaar and Sayeed Hameed
Pora, areas directed PDD for immediately repairing, renovating
and wherever required replacing the rotten electricity polls with
new ones and asked PDD to install street lights at places where
they have gone out of order. He also directed R&B department
to construct footpath from Nawabazaar to Jamaloto Chowk and
carry out repair and maintenance work on lanes, drains and dilapidated roads.
The Speaker also directed for immediate macadamization of
the road from Nawakadal to Khankah Sokhta and carrying out
repair of the lane from Khanabhawan Nawakadal near Malbab
Saheb Shrine.
Gul also paid obeisance at Malbab Saheb Shrine and discussed various issues for its beautification with officials. He also
directed officers for immediate repair and renovation of various
lanes and drains of Mirjampora Nawakadal Srinagar and replacing the damaged manhole covers. On the occasion he issued directions to Executive Engineer PDD for replacing the damaged
electricity polls and wires.
At Tibetan colony Eidgah, Mr Gul was informed that against
the proposed construction of 36 dwelling units, 18 have been
completed and the construction work on the remaining is in
progress. He also inspected the construction work of Eidgah
drain which is being constructed at a cost of Rs 20 lakh on both
sides and scheduled to be completed within four months.
The Speaker also visited Ganderpora Safakadal (Tangbag)
and directed for immediate repair and renovation of the lanes
and drains and macadamization of the damaged roads.

people included free ration to
earthquake victims on equal
basis, medical facilities in the
region, repairing of roads and
water supply schemes etc.
While interacting
with the people, Wani gave on

19 .6.2013

HOROSCOPE

Wani asks officers to hold Public
Grievances camps in each block
be covered under PMGSY. He
directed the district administration to hold public durbars
in each block.
Wani said that efforts are being made by the
government to consolidate

Aries

March 21-April 19
Aries, the cosmic signs indicate that your emotional
universe will once again glow with positive energy. You
will meet more people, and your encounters are likely
to be profoundly gratifying, emotionally and intellectually. All told, the coming month is wonderfully promising for you. Two key things to anticipate are pleasure
and sensuality.

Taurus
April 20-May 20

For you, Taurus, the next few weeks portend a period of timidity. You will probably go out less, introduce yourself to fewer new people, and be less prone
to showing off. But any relationships you do form will
be much more intense than usual. The month ahead is
quite promising, though you may have to readjust some
of your attitudes.

Gemini
May 21-June 21

You may have spent the past few weeks exploring
other horizons, Gemini, meeting new people, going out
more frequently, or taking short trips. But there’s a
significant change of rhythm in the air. You will settle
down and bask in the comfort of your home. You will
find that you have just the incentive you need to stabilize yourself for a while.

Cancer
June 22-July 22

You’re likely to enjoy a change in the rhythm and
quality of life, beginning right now. Do you feel a need
to take your friendships beyond superficiality? Perhaps
you should reestablish contact with some past friends.
You can expect another period devoted to sweeping the
cobwebs out of your emotional life and letting in light
and promise.

Leo

July 23-August 22
Today you can expect to be more enterprising in
your human relationships, Leo. You may find new
friends or enjoy quality time with old ones. It’s likely
that your love life will intensify. The next few weeks
provide excellent resources for improving your emotional well-being. Take advantage of it.

Virgo

August 23-September 22

Wani, Tuesday visited Dahara
and Gundna villages.
The Minister held
public grievances camps at
remote Dhrarah and Gundna villages and took stock
of problems and demands of
the people.
The issues raised by

Lone tours Sonawari Constituency
BANDIPORA, JUNE 18:-

Srinagar |wedneSday

maximum benefits from the scheme.
Various deputations met the Minister and brought several issues before
him like repairing of water supply pipes,
electric poles and wiring besides upgradation of interior roads and lanes. They
also demanded a footbridge in the area.
The Minister gave several on spot directions to the concerned officers while
assuring the people that all genuine de-

spot instructions to PHE and
Rural Development departments to address the problems of people at the earliest.
He directed the officials to
hold inquiry into poor condition of SSA school buildings.
He assured the people that all
the left over habitations will

and expand the education
network in the rural and
unconnected areas, so that
poor students get education
facility within their village or
habitation.
Later, Wani laid the foundation stone for Model Village Gundna.

The past month has allowed you to affirm yourself,
Virgo, and cement some aspects of your personality.
You’re now entering a period of consolidation. It’s like
you conceived a product, created it, and are now finally
ready to put it on the market. The current period indicates that you will receive all of the rewards that your
hard work has earned.

Libra

September 23-October 23
Today heralds the beginning of a very agreeable
period. You will be especially happy, Libra! You will
project confidence, clarity, and charisma wherever you
go. You used up a lot of your reserves during the last
few months. You’ve made it to this stage just in time.
Certainly you’ll agree that this is something to be celebrated!

HOROSCOPE
Scorpio

of political reservation for
the Gujjar and Bakarwal
Tribes in the State, organizing of special recruitment
drives for youth of the Gujjar
and Bakarwal communities
in Army and Para-Military
Forces and effective utiliza-

October 24-November 21
Aries

Scorpio,
this would19
be a good moment to get rid of
March
21-April
anything that still stands between you and achieving
your goals. A certain obstacle might be sparking the
impulse you have to blend into the background. Don’t
forget that you’re an individual. This isn’t something to
be overcome. It should be celebrated!

Sagittarius
November 22-December 21
Taurus

ing water, electricity, better road connectivity, besides education and better
healthcare facilities has been given top
priority.
This was stated by the Minister while

tion plant at ShahGund which has been
completed at the cost of Rs 3.42 crore. He
enjoined upon the concerned officers to
take necessary steps for proper management of the plant so that people derive

ment for the second term.
During the meeting, the
delegation led by Eshfaq-urRehman Poswal, State President of the organization,
presented various demands
to the Governor, which included, interalia, provision

tion of funds available under
Tribal Sub Plan.The Governor heard the delegation
patiently and said that the
demands presented by them
would be taken up with the
concerned authorities in the
State Government.

Parliamentary Standing Committee visit State Red Cross Society
SRINAGAR, JUNE 18:
The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on
Chemicals and Fertilizers,
comprising of 11 Members
headed by Gopinath Mundi
visited Red Cross House Srinagar.
The aim of the visit was to
review the implementation
of the Jan Aushadhi Scheme,
a Government of India initiative through which Quality
Generic Medicines are being
made available at affordable
prices for the general public.
Pertinently, Indian Red Cross
Society, J&K state has been
entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the
scheme in the state. As many
as three Jan Aushadi Stores,
one each at Srinagar, Leh and
Anantnag are already functioning in the state.
An interactive session was

also held in the office of the
Honorary General Secretary,
Indian Red Cross Society, J&K
state at Srinagar in which
Principal GMC, Srinagar and
President of the Bureau of
Pharma Public Sector Units of
India (BPPI) participated. The
committee also visited the Jan
Aushadhi Generic Drug Store
in the Complex.
The Honorary General
Secretary Ms. Roma Wani
presented the welcome address and highlighted the
benefits of the Jan Aushadhi
scheme especially for the
poor people who cannot afford high-priced branded
life- saving medicines. She
said that opening of many
more Jan Ashudhi Stores is
on cards and steps are afoot
to extend the benefits of the
scheme to large number of
people of the state. She also
drew the attention of the

high-powered
Committee
and the president of the BPPI
towards the shortcomings
of the Scheme and the challenges being faced by the Red
Cross for effective implementation of the scheme in the
State.
The Members of the
Standing Committee expressed happiness and satisfaction over the efforts of
the Red Cross and the state
Government in implementing the Scheme in state. The
participants unanimously impressed upon President of the
BPPI to do away with the lacunas of the scheme and ensure
smooth and timely supplies
of medicines for the Jan Aushadhi stores. The committee
was assured by the President
of the BPPI that every possible
help would be extended to
make the Jan Aushadi scheme
a success.

The signs say that you can expect a very profitable
April
20-May 20
few weeks ahead, Sagittarius. You’ve worked hard lately, and it’s only natural that you have finally arrived at
this stage. You’re going to be able to measure the distance you’ve come and evaluate your power. Whatever
you do, don’t think small!

Capricorn
December 22-January 19
Gemini

You may have your head in the clouds today, CapMay
21 there’s a need for you to keep
ricorn.
At21-June
the same time,
your feet on the ground. This contradiction of energies
might make it difficult to find peace, but you should find
comfort knowing that this will soon end. Deal with conflicting issues the best you can. They will help you find
the balance and perspective you need.

Aquarius
January 20-February 18
Cancer

22for you, Aquarius. You’re likely
AJune
quest22-July
is in store
to engage in a search for physical or intellectual space.
You may be asking yourself philosophical questions.
Or perhaps you’re thinking of taking a long trip. Which
will it be? Will you read philosophy or go to China? At
this point, only the stars know.

Pisces
Leo

February 19-March 20

In navigating your emotional life, Pisces, you may
July
23-August
22effort in the past month. You’ve
feel
you’ve
made a great
been available and conciliatory, and done your best to
maintain harmony. Your efforts have paid off. Now you
feel a yen for more spontaneity. It seems that the enterprising and reckless you has returned! Go ahead - you
deserve this release after all of your disciplined effort.

Virgo

August 23-September 22

Editorial/Opinion
The Daily

Zabarwan Times
Wednesday, 19 June 2013

MISSION 2014

C

ountdown for the 2014 elections
has just begun at the national as
well as state level. Congress party
which heads United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government the center has
already started working towards the big
exercise. The Congress party on Sunday
affected a major organizational reshuffle
geared towards the 2014 Lok Sabha polls,
inducting former union ministers as general
secretaries and appointing several young
leaders as secretaries. This was followed by a
cabinet reshuffle on Monday where many
oldies were entrusted with the job of running
some important ministries. The reshuffle at
the organizational and the government level
of course had the stamp of party vicepresident Rahul Gandhi. The revamp also
saw some party general secretaries and
secretaries dropped. Party president Sonia
Gandhi, who made the changes, also reconstituted the Congress Working Committee
(CWC), the party’s highest decision-making
body and appointed screening committees for
poll-bound states, including Delhi,
Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya
Pradesh. Although elections to the Jammu
and Kashmir assembly are only due towards
the end of 2014, the state's ruling coalition
and the main opposition party seem to be
readying for these to be held along with the
Lok Sabha polls. In fact, Urban Development
Minister and Congress leader Nawang Rigzin
Jora is on record as saying the two elections
would be held later this year or early next
year. Sources in both the ruling National
Conference (NC) and alliance partner
Congress say the latter's high command
favours simultaneous polls, whether the
general elections are held in May or earlier,
depending on the political situation in the
country. What is the Congress logic for
favouring early assembly polls? Given that it
is said off and on that the alliance partners
might go their own way for the assembly
polls, is it essentially aimed at depriving the
NC the flexibility of choosing its future
partners? Or does the Congress high command fear that if the two elections are spaced
apart, the NC would get crucial time to
choose a new alliance partner - or go solo - for
the assembly polls in case the United
Progressive Alliance lost power at the centre?
A Congress leader declined to comment on
these possibilities but did not disagree that the
two elections would be held simultaneously if
the Congress high command so desired.
Political observers are guessing whether the
Congress would pull out of the alliance if the
NC refused its demand to hold the two elections together. One other pointer is that
already NC and Congress ministers, as also
other leaders, have gone into election mode.
Most of the senior NC ministers are these
days extensively touring their constituencies
in the Valley. This has resulted in visitors
calling on the ministers' offices in the civil
secretariat in summer capital Srinagar returning disappointed. Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah has been regularly meeting people
during his 'Awami Mulaqats' (Meet the
people programmes) in Srinagar, where
delegations of people from different parts of
the state call on him for redressal of their
problems. Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, patron
of the main opposition People's Democratic
Party (PDP), has of late also started extensively touring his south Kashmir Anantnag
assembly constituency. The NC has 28
members and the Congress 17 in the 87member assembly. The PDP has 21 members.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has 11 seats, the
Panthers Party three and the CPI-M one seat.
The Peoples Democratic Front and the J&K
Democratic Party Nationalist have one seat
each while there are four independents.

I

Daily

ZABARWAN TIMES 9

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Creating Employment
Opportunities for Youth

ndia is a vast country with a
population of about 1.21 billion
and a labour force of around 475
million. There is an open unemployment of 9.5 million as per estimates
available for the year 2009-10.
Employment is the main source of
livelihood and self-fulfillment for most
women and men. About 6% of the total
work force in India is employed in
organised sector while remaining 94% are
in the unorganised sector. Scope of
additional employment generation in the
organized sector for additional wage
employment is less. India has a younger
population not only in comparison to
advanced economies but also in relation
to large developing countries. As a result,
the labour force in India is expected to
increase by 32 per cent over the next 20
years, while it will decline by 4.0 per cent
in industrialised countries and by nearly
5.0 per cent in China. We are, therefore,
endeavoring to reap this ‘demographic
dividend’ by providing for higher levels
of health, education and skill development. This will create an environment
where in the economy not only grows
rapidly, but also enhances good quality
employment and livelihood opportunities
to meet the needs and aspirations of the
youth.
The Government has been making
constant efforts for reducing unemployment through normal growth process and
implementing various employment
generation programmes, such as, Swarna
Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY);
P r i m e M i n i s t e r ’s E m p l o y m e n t
Generation Programme (PMEGP) and
National Rural Livelihood Mission
besides entrepreneurial development
programmes run by the Ministry of
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
(MGNREGA) also assures every rural
household at least 100 days of manual

work at minimum wages. Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM): The Mission’s aim is to
encourage reforms and fast track planned
development of identified cities. Focus is
on efficiency in urban infrastructure and
service delivery mechanisms, community
participation etc.
Bharat Nirman
In Bharat Nirman, critical areas of rural
infrastructure – Irrigation, Roads, Water
Supply, Housing, Electricity and Telecom
connectivity have been covered. This has
improved living standards of the rural
population and also created infrastructure
which will ultimately enhance the
economic activities in the rural areas and
generate significant employment
opportunities for the rural people.
Infrastructural Development
The investment on infrastructure is
proposed to be increased to Rs.45 lakh
crore during XII Plan period. About half
of this is expected to come from private
sector.
Skill Development
· Skills and knowledge are the driving
forces of economic growth and social
development of any country. Countries
with higher and better levels of skills
adjust more effectively to the challenges
and opportunities of the world.
· Government is serious in creating
training infrastructure and providing
quality employment to youth. According
to a study carried out by Quality Council
of India, placement rate has increased to
about 80% to 99% because of improved
infrastructure in the modernized ITIs.
Skill Development Initiative (SDI)
Scheme based on Modular Employable
Skills (MES) was started during the
Eleventh Five Year Plan for early school
leavers and existing workers, especially
in the unorganised sector to improve their
employability. About 16 lakh persons
have been trained under the scheme so far.
· Sincere efforts are being made for skill

development of a large number of people
under various skill development
programmes. The Prime Minister has set
a target of skilling 500 million persons by
2022 and the Ministry of Labour &
Employment is required to train 100
million. Government is systematically
working to achieve the target and the
training capacity has been increased from
9 lakh in 2006 - 07 to 26 lakh in 2011-12.
All the Government ITIs are being
modernized. New courses have been
introduced and most of the ITIs are
running in two to three shifts. During last
five years, the number of Government
and private ITIs has increased from 5114
in 2006-07 to 10,344 which is more than
double. Government has also planned to
set up 1500 more ITIs in PPP and 5000
Skill Development Centres in PPP to
enhance the capacity further. 27
Advanced Training Institutes are also
planned in PPP to produce adequate
number of trainers in the country.
Focus Area in the 12th Five Year Plan
In the 12th Five Year Plan the thrust of the
Government is in bringing about an
inclusive growth strategy that will
provide job opportunities as well as make
the young of the country employable.
The main focus areas are:
a) Thrust on Manufacturing Sector-to
make it the engine of employment
growth-that would create 100 million
additional jobs by 2025.
b) To bring in supportive policies to
incentivise labour intensive manufacturing sectors such as textile & garments,
leather & footwear, food processing,
gems & Jewellery to generate more
employment opportunities.
c) Expanding employment in services
like IT, finance & banking, tourism, trade
& transport.
d) Prioritizing skill training for the
informal sector; creation of appropriate
skill sets among rural migrants and urban
poor to make growth inclusive. e)

Ensuring the employability of skilled
persons by involving Sector Skill
Councils in preparation of Skill Modules
matching market demand. f) Building on
the potential of Modular Employable
Skill programme by ensuring combination of modules to ensure employability.
g) Extending Social Security benefits to
Unorganized sector Workers.
h) Enable skill loans for poor students
(Credit Guarantee Fund)
i) Streamlining the skill development
programs for disadvantaged sections to
ensure much larger funding for skill
development. j) Setting up of National
Skill Registry to link data bases across
Ministries / States to provide a platform
linking people who seek/provide
employment. Expenditure on social
services which include education, sports,
art and culture, medical and public health,
family welfare, water supply and
sanitation, housing, urban development;
welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs),
Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other
Backward Classes (OBCs), labour and
labour welfare, social security and
welfare, nutrition, relief for natural
calamities, etc. by the Government
(Centre and State combined) has also
shown increase in recent years reflecting
higher priority to social services.
National-e-Governance
National-e-Governance Plan has
identified Upgradation and modernization Employment Exchanges as one of the
Mission Mode Projects (MMP). The
MMP aims to progressively support all
Employment Exchanges in the country to
make effective use of IT in various
activities of employment services. A
national web portal will be developed to
make all employment related services
available on a single window and will
work like a virtual job market. This will
help Employment Exchanges to provide
efficient and quality services at wider
scale and speed.

Intensive Development in Animal Husbandry
Sector Aids National Food Security

A

nimal protein in the form of
milk, butter, cheese, egg,
meat, fish to name a few, form
an important part of the food
basket of each family depending on
their economic status and regional
preferences. For instance we find fish
in every meal in Bengal and percentage
of chicken consumers has risen sharply
in recent years with improved purchasing power of people. This is due to
vario us d evelo pmen tal , wel fare
initiatives of government and also
increased growth in animal husbandry,
dairying and fisheries sector.
Animal husbandry, dairying and
fisheries activities play an important
role in national economy and in socioeconomic development of the country.
These activities contribute to the food
basket, nutrition security and household income of the farmers and play a
significant role in generating gainful
employment in the rural areas, particularly among the landless, small and
marginal farmers and women, besides
providing cheap and nutritious food.
Livestock are the best insurance for
farmers against vagaries of nature like
drought and other natural calamities.
Farmers of marginal, small and semimedium operational holdings (area less
than 4 ha) own about 87.7% of the
livestock making development of
livestock sector more inclusive in
nature. India is endowed with the
largest livestock population in the
world. Livestock production and
agriculture are intrinsically linked,
each being dependent on the other, and
both crucial for overall food security.
According to estimates of the Central
Statistics Office (CSO), the value of
output from livestock sector at current
prices was about Rs.4, 59,051 crore
during 2011-12 which is about 24.8%
of the value of output from total
agricultural and allied sector at current
price and 25.6% at constant prices

(2004-05). The value of output of milk
was Rs.3, 05,484 crore in 2011-12,
which is higher than the value of output
of paddy and wheat. The value of
output from meat group at current
prices in 2011-12 was Rs.83, 641 crore
and Rs.17,803 crore from eggs.
As Agriculture, including Animal
Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries is a
State subject, the emphasis of the
central govt has been on supplementing
efforts of the State Governments in the
development of these sectors.
Assistance to the State Governments is
provided for the control of animal
diseases, scientific management and up
gradation of genetic resources,
increasing availability of nutritious

Veterinary Hospitals and Dispensaries,
and for strengthening the efforts for
animal disease control. To meet the
shortage of fodder, several new
components were incorporated in the
Feed and Fodder scheme. Further,
Dairy Entrepreneurship Development
Scheme was initiated, with the
objective of increasing investment in
dairy sector for increasing milk
production in the country while
creating self-employment opportunities. An allocation of Rs.14, 179.00
crore during 12th Plan which includes
an amount of Rs.7,628 crore for Animal
Husbandry, Rs 4,976.00 crore for Dairy
Development and Rs.2,483.00 crore
for the Fisheries sector has been

Most of the milk in the Country is

produced by small, marginal farmers and

landless labourers and is used for both self
consumption and to generate income.

feed and fodder, sustainable development of processing and marketing
facilities and enhancement of production and profitability of livestock and
fisheries enterprises under various
centrally sponsored and central sector
schemes. Realizing the potential of this
sector, central budgetary outlay for this
sector has increased manifold in the
last decade. An amount of about
Rs.11,313 crore including Rs.5,403.88
crore under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas
Yojana and National Mission for
Protein Supplements was allocated for
animal husbandry, dairying and
fisheries sector during 11th Plan, in
addition to budgetary support under
state plans. During the Eleventh Plan,
Government initiated several new
programmes /schemes improve

provided. India ranks first among the
world’s milk producing nations,
achieving an annual output of about
127.9 million tonnes of milk during
2011-12. Most of the milk in the
Country is produced by small, marginal
farmers and landless labourers and is
used for both self consumption and to
generate income. In order to meet the
rapidly growing demand for milk with
a focus to improve milch animal
productivity and increase milk
production, the Government approved
National Dairy Plan Phase-I(NDP-I) in
February, 2012 with a total investment
of about Rs.2242 crore to be implemented from 2011-12 to 2016. NDP-I
will help to meet the projected national
demand of 150 million tonnes of milk
by 2016-17 from domestic production.

The strategy involves increasing the
genetic potential of bovines, producing
required number of quality bulls,
producing superior quality frozen
semen and adopting adequate biosecurity measures. In order to improve
productivity of animals by genetic
improvement, the existing scheme
relating to development of bovines and
dairy development are being merged to
a new scheme, National Programme for
Bovine Breeding and Dairy(NPBBD)
which will be implemented along with
the National Dairy Plan (Phase-I).
In fisheries sector, a major initiative
has been taken by Government of India
by launching National Fisheries
Development Board (NFDB) as a
special purpose vehicle to achieve
sustainable development of fisheries
sector through integration of wide
array of activities. NFDB would be
strengthened by integrating all
schemes relating to fisheries development under it and enhancing investment for the sector. The Livestock
sector also contributes to export in
spite of the fact that limited number of
livestock enterprises function in the
country on commercial basis. Total
export earnings from livestock, poultry
and related products were Rs.33,417
crore during 2011-12 as compared to
Rs.25,409 crore during previous year
i.e. 2010-11 with a growth of about
31.5%. Total export earnings from
fisheries products have also shown
steady increase and reached to
Rs.16,597.23 crore during 2011-12
compared to Rs.12,901.47 crore during
2010-11 with a growth of about
28.65%. All these focused initiatives of
the Government is expected to speed up
national GDP growth, generate
additional employment opportunities,
improve the food basket and nutritional
level of people in the country.
Ultimately Food Security of the
country will be bolstered.

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer.

HE A L+H
58

ZABARWANTIMES
ZABARWAN
TIMES
WEDNESDAY | 19 JUNE 2013

Best foods for stamina

You need tons of energy to cope
with your hectic lifestyle, especially if you are into sports.
Here's a list of foods that give you
enough stamina to keep you active
throughout the day.While certain
foods in your diet can actually reduce stamina, healthy foods help
to build up your stamina and increase your energy levels, especially if you're interested in sports
and athletics. As a sportsperson,
you need foods that are designed
to not only give you energy but
also keep you feeling full all day
long. Says nutritionist Smruti
Gokhale, "Nutrients like complex
carbs, proteins, fibre and vitamin
C is crucial for those who are into
sports. These nutrients keep you
active and feeling energetic."

Essential
nutrients

Complex carbs: When you are talking about building stamina, you
just cannot miss out on complex
carbs. Carbs are the main source of
fuel for your body and brain. Says
Priya Kathpal, nutritionist, "Carbs
are the food that the body uses to
get glucose, which provides energy.
Complex carbs are present in foods
like bread, pasta and rice, which unlike simple carbs, keep you feeling
energetic all day long."

Vitamin C: Vitamin C helps

strengthen your immune system
and protects you from infections
like cold and cough, which sap your
energy. Also, when you are outdoors, you are more susceptible to

stamina and also to improve your
RBC count. Green leafy veggies
are rich in fibre and digest slowly
while maintaining your blood-glucose level.
Bananas: Bananas are a particularly
good energy source and these are best
eaten a few hours before you intend to
exert yourself. Along with being great
sources of carbs, they are also effective because they trigger the release of
'dopamine' — a chemical that builds
your concentration and focus.

Protein is an important nutrient for the growth, development and repair of muscle and
body tissues. Protein has a higher
metabolic rate than fat, so an individual can burn more calories. It is
also said to increase satiety, which
prevents a person from overeating.
Healthy sources of protein include
lean chicken, fish, eggs and nuts.
Iron: Lack of iron in your diet can
cause loss of stamina. You can get
iron from meat, beans, nuts and some
vegetables such as broccoli and spinach. Consult your doctor about taking
iron supplements.

Foods
that
build stamina

Oatmeal: Oatmeal is an unprocessed carb, which gets digested slowly and hence keeps you feeling full for
a longer period of time. Says Kathpal,
"A power-packed cereal, oatmeal provides sustained energy for hours. Due
to high content of complex carbs, it
breaks down slowly in your body and
keeps the blood sugar at optimum
level."

Beans: Rich in mineral and iron

which helps your body to generate
RBCs (Red Blood Cells) that carry
oxygen to the muscles when you are
exercising and also builds stamina.

Coffee: Coffee is known to be an
instant energy provider. It is known
to help fight against fatigue, as it
triggers the central nervous system.
Coffee keeps you energised and active throughout the day.

Green leafy vegetables: Packed with micronutrients, it is essential for building

said to contain Omega 3 fatty acids
that helps in reducing pain, boost heart
health and develop your brain. Peanut
butter is also excellent for building
stamina. It is high in calories and
digests slowly. Consume peanut
butter in combination with complex carbs.
Lean meat, fish, chicken and eggs:
Says Gokhale, "Rich in protein,
these foods are important for
growth and development, muscle
building and repair. Meat takes a longer time to digest and thus keeps you
feeling full and active all day long."

Red grapes: Red grapes contains 'resveratol' which provides increased energy. These grapes contain
a very small amount of sugar, which
gives you instant energy and helps
build stamina.

Beetroot juice: Consuming a glass of beetroot juice before
exercising will make your body
work for long hours without feeling exhausted. Beetroot is rich in
vitamin A and C — both help in
building stamina and reducing fatigue.

10 foods that protect your heart
Heart disease is one of
the most feared ailment
and a side effect of sedentary lifestyle. You can
control the effects of
your lifestyle by eating
the right food.
It’s quite often difficult
to change your lifestyle
drastically in this competitive world. But you
can surely change a little
bit of eating and ensure
you are protecting your
heart.
Here’s a list of food that
can help you protect
your heart.
1. Black beans: Black
beans are packed with
folate,
antioxidants,
magnesium which are
good for lowering blood
pressure, blood sugar
and cholesterol. This in
turn keeps your heart in
safe zone. But if you are
planning to use tinned
beans, please drain the
liquid and wash them
before use to reduce the
sodium content.
2. Salmon and tuna:

These two fish
are rich in antioxidants
and
omega-3,
two
important candidates who help
heart.
3. Walnuts: A
handful of them
a day helps lower your cholesterol and reduce
inflammation
in the arteries.
Replace them as
mid-meal snacks
instead of chips
etc.
4. Oranges: They
contain
cholesterolfighting pectin. The fruit
is also rich in potassium
that helps control blood
pressure.
Antioxidant
hesperidin also helps
lower blood pressure.
5.
Carrots:
Though
sweet, they are good to
control diabetes, which
increases heart attack
risk. They also help fight
bad cholesterol.
6. Sweet potatoes: They
are rich in vitamin A, fi-

ber and lycopene making
them a healthy substitute
for the white brethren.
7. Oats: Oats in all
forms help your heart
by lowering bad cholesterol.
8. Flaxseeds: Fiber,
phytochemicals called
lignans, and ALA these three ingredients
in these small seeds
make them a powerhouse of health. Sure
protector of heart if
had spoonful in pow-

dered form everyday in
cereals or salads.
9. Chilli powder: Difficult to believe, but
these Indian tasty spice
actually protects heart
and body from diabetes
with its ability to spike
up the natural insulin
levels in the body.
10. Coffee: It can keep
away type 2 diabetes,
but people having high
blood pressure should be
cautious as it can have a
counter effect.

within TCGA, Broad senior associate member, and professor of
pathology at Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute and Harvard Medical
School.
"This provides many new therapeutic opportunities for squamous
cell carcinoma that would be suitable for clinical trials," he noted.
The first targeted treatments for
lung adenocarcinoma, erlotinib
(Tarceva) and gefitinib (Iressa),
were aimed at mutations in the
EGFR gene. Unfortunately, and
like other drugs being tested in
clinical trials that target several
other genes altered in lung adenocarcinoma, they do not help
patients with squamous cell carcinoma.
The TCGA effort, a multicenter
consortium funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the first
comprehensive genomic characterization of this lung cancer subtype.
As in the three previous TCGA
reports on the brain cancer glioblastoma, on ovarian cancer, and
on colorectal cancer, the scientists used multiple large-scale approaches to highlight key molecular defects. They sequenced the

protein-coding segments of the
genomes of 178 squamous cell carcinoma tumors, along with normal
tissue from the same patients.
The researchers also sequenced
the whole genomes of 19 tumor
and normal tissue pairs. They
mapped a diverse catalog of genomic alterations, including the
rearrangements of chromosomes
and other structural changes in
regions of the genome that might
not encode proteins but could control nearby genes involved in cancer development.
The comprehensive study confirmed some previously identified
genomic alterations. For example,
the TP53 gene was altered in 90
percent of the tumours and the
CDKN2A gene was inactivated
in 72 percent of tumours. These
genes normally prevent cancer,
but when they are switched off,
tumours can grow unimpeded.
CDKN2A may be susceptible to a
kinase inhibitor, presenting an opportunity for clinical trials.
Overall the researchers identified
mutations or amplifications in
three families of tyrosine kinases,
which are enzymes that act like
power switches for many cellular

30mins
of
daily exercise
enough to get
into
shape
(Thinkstock
photos/Getty
Images)
Thirty minutes of daily
exercise
provide an
equally
effective loss of
weight and
body mass as
60 minutes,
researchers
at the University
of
Copenhagen
have shown.
For thirteen weeks, a research team at the Faculty
of Health and Medical Sciences followed 60 heavy but healthy - Danish men
in their efforts to get into
better shape.
Half of the men were set
to exercise for an hour a
day, wearing a heart-rate
monitor and calorie counter, while the second group
only had to sweat for 30
minutes. Research results
show that 30 minutes of
exercise hard enough to
produce a sweat is enough
to turn the tide on an unhealthy body mass index.
On average, the men who

exercised 30 minutes a
day lost 3.6 kilo in three
months, while those who
exercised for a whole hour
only lost 2.7 kg. The reduction in body mass was
about 4 kg for both groups,
reports Mads Rosenkilde,
PhD student, Department
of Biomedical Sciences.
Moreover 30 minutes of
exercise training provide
an extra bonus.
Participants exercising 30
minutes per day burned
more calories than they
should relative to the
training program we set
for them. In fact we can see
that exercising for a whole
hour instead of a half does

not provide any additional
loss in either body weight
or fat. The men who exercised the most lost too little
relative to the energy they
burned by running, biking
or rowing. 30 minutes of
concentrated exercise give
equally good results on
the scale, explained Mads
Rosenkilde.
Mads Rosenkilde postulates that some of the
explanation for the surprising results is that 30
minutes of exercise is so
doable that participants
in the study had the desire
and energy for even more
physical activity after their
daily exercise session.

Sleep disorders signal
Alzheimer’s disease
A pattern of disturbed sleep could be an
early warning sign of Alzheimer’s disease, suggest scientists.
Working on a mouse model, researchers
from the Washington University School
of Medicine in St. Louis, found that when
the first signs of Alzheimer’s plaques appear in the brain, the normal sleep-wake
cycle is significantly disrupted.
“If sleep abnormalities begin this early
in the course of human Alzheimer’s
disease, those changes could provide us
with an easily detectable sign of pathology,” said senior study author David M.
Holtzman, professor and head of neurology at Washington, the journal Science
Translational Medicine reported.
“As we start to treat Alzheimer’s patients before the onset of dementia, the
presence or absence of sleep problems
may be a rapid indicator of whether the
new treatments are succeeding,” added
Holtzman.Holtzman’s lab was among
the first to link sleep problems and Alzheimer’s through studies of sleep in
mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer’s plaques as they age, according
to a university statement.
In a 2009 study, he showed that brain

New hope for people with fatal lung cancer
Scientists have discovered new
potential targets for treating
squamous cell lung cancer, which
causes approximately 400,000
deaths per year worldwide.
Squamous cell lung cancer kills
more people each year than
breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer, ranking second only to lung
adenocarcinoma in the number of
deaths it causes.
But unlike the most common form
of lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma has no treatments aimed
at the specific genetic alterations
that drive it.
Now The Cancer Genome Atlas
(TCGA) Research Network, led in
part by scientists at the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School,
has identified many potential therapeutic targets based on the large
number and variety of DNA alterations they discovered in most of
the tumours they studied.
"This study clearly shows that
squamous cell carcinoma, like lung
adenocarcinoma, is a cancer with
diverse genomic causes, many of
which are potentially susceptible
to drug inhibition," said Matthew
Meyerson, co-leader of the project

Exercise for 30 mins
daily, lose weight

functions. Frequently altered in
cancer, they are already being investigated as therapeutic targets
in other cancers. The researchers
also found genomic alterations
in signalling pathways that could
present important opportunities
for treatment.
In another striking finding, the researchers discovered mutations in
the HLA-A gene that hampered its
function in tumours. HLA genes
direct the arm of the immune system that discriminates between its
own tissues and foreign invaders. This is the first cancer in
which these mutations have been
found, but they are likely to occur in other cancers, Meyerson
said.
"To our knowledge, this is the
first example of a tumour that
has a genomic mechanism for
evading an immune response.
This may be important in understanding the immune response
to squamous cell carcinoma and
also in envisioning how immuneregulatory therapy might be used
for this disease," he said.
While much works needs to be
done, the scientists see many opportunities.

levels of a primary component of the
plaques naturally rise when healthy
young mice are awake and drop after
they go to sleep. Depriving the mice of
sleep disrupted this cycle and accelerated the development of brain plaques.
A similar rising and falling of the plaque
component, a protein called amyloid
beta, was later detected in the cerebro-

spinal fluid of healthy humans studied
by co-author Randall Bateman, professor of neurology at Washington University.The new research, led by Jee Hoon
Roh, neurologist and postdoctoral fellow
in Holtzman’s lab, shows that when the
first indicators of brain plaques appear,
the natural fluctuations in amyloid beta
levels stop in both mice and humans.

Future-focused smokers
likelier to quit
Smokers who value the future are more likely to stop
smoking, new research has
found.
In order to make this discovery Drs. Heather Brown
and Jean Adams of Newcastle University (UK) tapped
into eight years of data from
a large Australian database.
The Household Income and
Labour Dynamics of Australia (HILDA) survey collects data on economic and
subjective well-being, work,
and family dynamics every
year from over 7,000 Australian households.
Brown and Adams identified 1,817 participants who were smokers at the start of the
survey (2001) and analysed their planning regarding their saving and spending
to measure their future orientation.
People whose spending and saving plans
looked ahead by more than three months
were categorized as having a longer time
horizon, while those whose financial plans
looked no more than a week ahead had a
shorter time horizon.
The researchers then looked at how many

of those 2001 smokers had quit or tried
to quit by 2008. Seventy-six percent of
quitters were long-time-horizon planners,
compared with 66 percent of those who
continued to smoke. Researchers in other
fields have found similar associations:
newly diagnosed diabetics who are futurefocused are more likely to make healthy
changes to their diet and exercise habits,
and cocaine users who discount the future
are less likely subsequently to stop using
the drug.“It is possible that helping smokers to think about the future a bit more
might be a useful way to help them quit,”
said co-author Jean Adams.

NATION

7 SRINAGAR
Wednesday, June 19, 2013

India wants friendly relation
with pakistan/Antony

Describing Pakistan as “our
closest neighbour”, Antony said
Indian government wanted friendly relations with it as a “peaceful
and stable” Pakistan was in India’s
interest.
Holding that a “peaceful and
stable” Pakistan was in India’s interest, Defence Minister AK Antony today said that the neighbouring
country must initiate strong action
against terrorist groups operating
from its soil, in order to improve
Indo-Pak ties
“We are concerned about terrorist groups in Pakistan. They
should take strong action against
them which will help improve
our relations,” he told reporters
here when asked whether change
of government in Pakistan could
spell a better relationship between
the two countries.
Describing Pakistan as “our
closest neighbour”, Antony said
Indian government wanted friendly relations with it as a “peaceful
and stable” Pakistan was in India’s
interest.
On Indo-China relations and
border situation, the defence minister said, “the recent problem has
been solved to the satisfaction

of both the countries. We have a
mechanism to sort out occasional
irritants,” adding, that there was a
“highest level decision” to maintain peace and tranquillity along
the border.Both countries would
also have joint exercises, he noted.
Antony said notwithstanding

the long standing border dispute,
there were major areas of cooperation between India and China, also
India’s “largest trading partner”.
He hoped his forthcoming visit
to China would further improve
the bilateral relations and defence
cooperation between the two

Coal Scam: ex-members of Prime
Minister’s Office questioned

New Delhi: The coal scam,
which has already hit the government hard, now appears to
be edging in the Prime Minister’s Office.As part of its investigation, the CBI has this week
questioned two bureaucrats
who were posted in the Prime
Minister’s Office when the coal
blocks were allotted to private
firms at undervalued prices.
The officials were reportedly asked for details of some
coal fields that were allotted
to private firms between 2006
and 2009, when Dr Manmohan
Singh held direct charge of the
Coal Ministry.
An earlier controversy related to members of the Prime

Minister’s Office vetting a report by the CBI that was meant
to update the supreme Court on
its investigation. Ashwani Kumar was forced to quit as Law
Minister over allegations that
he asked for changes to the report to protect the government.
The CBI is scheduled to
give the Supreme Court another on July 10. The agency has
already said the government’s
screening committee which
processed applications from
firms did not conduct background checks in a process that
lacked transparency.
On Thursday, the CBI will
question former Coal Secretary
HC Gupta who headed that

committee. The government
was attacked by the opposition
for initially refusing to sanction Mr Gupta’s questioning. It
later relented.The CBI needed
permission because it is treating
Mr Gupta, who is still a government official, as an accused in
the case. The two mid-level
officials who have been questioned in the Prime Minister’s
Office were treated as witnesses, said sources. A CBI press
release denied that the agency
plans to question TKA Nair, an
advisor to the PM, who was
the Principal Secretary or the
senior-most bureaucrat in the
Prime Minister’s Office during
the period under investigation.

Naxal couple surrenders in
Chhattisgarh, another Maoist held

As the poll is conducted by
the Election Commission and
as elected representatives to the
Tamil Nadu Assembly and voters
in the poll, they had every right to
exercise their franchise.
As six suspended MLAs of
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) have knocked
the doors of the Madras High
Court seeking a direction to allow them to vote in the June 27
Rajya Sabha polls from Tamil
Nadu, Election Commission
sources made it clear that no one
can deny them their right to vote.
A senior EC official pointed
out that the poll to the Upper
House was conducted by the
Election Commission and as
elected representatives to the
Legislative Assembly of Tamil
Nadu and voters in the poll they
had every right to exercise their
franchise.
Former Secretary-General of
the Lok Sabha P.D.T. Acharya
told The Hindu in New Delhi
on Tuesday that the order of the
Speaker suspending them would
apply only to the proceedings and

their conduct inside the House
and this had nothing to do with
their right to vote in the RS poll
held by EC. “They have every
right to vote under the provisions of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951 and no one can
deny them this right,” he said.
When asked whether the
MLAs could be denied entry, as
they were suspended, and the
premises where the poll was going to take place comes within
the Assembly precincts, Mr.
Acharya said this could not be
done as the EC, for convenience
had fixed the polling venue there
(inside Fort St. George in Chennai). As such the Speaker had no
jurisdiction over the venue of poll
when election was held there, he
said.
The six DMDK MLAs —
V.C. Chandhira Kumar, P. Parthasarthi, T. Murugesan, K. Nallathambi, S. Senthilkumar and R.
Arulselvam — have filed a petition in the Madras High Court
on Tuesday seeking direction
from the court for allowing them
to vote in the RS poll. They also

Modi on patch-up yatra
Meets Advani

countries.
The Defence Minister who
was here to attend the foundation laying ceremony of the new
Southern Command hospital here,
in reply to a question to involve
the army in anti-Naxal combat
operations, said, “the army’s
role is to protect national security. In the anti-Naxal operations
it can only offer logistics support
and training.”
Asked about the proposal for
creating a post of Chairman of
the Chiefs of Staff Committee
(COSC), Antony said the matter had been referred to a committee and the government had
not taken any final decision on
the issue on which suggestions
from political parties too would
be invited.
Earlier, the defence minister
and the Chief of Army Staff Gen
Bikram Singh expressed their satisfaction at the proposed modern
medical facilities envisaged in the
new command hospital project expected to be completed by 2015.
“The government is committed to welfare and comprehensive
health care of the armed forces
personnel,” he added.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra
Modi left all guessing by paying a
surprise one hour-long visit to estranged BJP patriarch LK Advani in
Delhi on Tuesday wherein he reportedly discussed party’s internal affairs
and the JD(U)-BJP split.
BJP strongman Narendra Modi
during BJP National Executive meet
in Panaji, Goa. PTI Photo
It was his first visit to Delhi after
his coronation as the head of BJP’s
election campaign committee. Modi
went straight out of Advani’s Prithviraj Road residence without meeting the media.
However, sources say both the
leaders discussed various issues relating to post-JD(U)-BJP split scene
and his new role and termed the
meeting as good and meaningful.
Modi also spent over an hour
with ailing former prime minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee at his residence after meeting senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
“Modiji has come to Delhi to
express his gratitude over his recent
appointment as chairman of the BJP
campaign committee at Goa. He has
expressed his gratitude and said he
was trying to fulfil the responsibility
given to him,” Joshi later said.

tive rescue/evacuation missions and
to be prepared in the event of similar
natural calamities, apart from advising an awareness creation campaign
as well.
The visit of the NDRF team
comes on the heels of discussions
initiated by Union Minister of State
for Human Resources Development
Shashi Tharoor with Union Minister
of State for Home R.P.N. Singh and
National Disaster Management Authority vice-chairman M. Shashidhar
Reddy.
Mr. Tharoor, who had earlier held
talks with Revenue Minister Adoor
Prakash and District Collector K.N.
Satheesh had also taken up the is-

Coalgate: CBI to record statement of PM’s Advisor TKA Nair

former Coal Secretary H C Gupta,
who recently resigned as member of
Competition Commission of India, to
appear before it for questioning as an
accused in the case on Thursday.
The agency is likely to question
him about the clearances for the allocation of coal blocks given by
Screening Committee which was
chaired by him on several occassions.
Meanwhile, the agency has
recorded the statements of two
officials--Vini Mahajan and Ashish Gupta--who were posted in the
Prime Minister’s Office during 2006
and 2009, the sources said, adding
they had been questioned as witnesses in the case.During that period,
the Prime Minister was handling the
charge of Coal Ministry.
Mahajan, a 1987-batch IAS officer from Punjab cadre, was a Director with the PMO during the period
and has now been repatriated back to
the state where she is Principal Secretary level officer.
Gupta, an IPS-officer of
1989-batch from Uttar Pradesh cadre, who was the vigilance officer in
the PMO, has also gone back to his
cadre.

sue of including sea
erosions and tidal
wave attacks under
disasters for which
Central assistance is
available. A request
has been made to
the NDMA to include these on the
list of calamities for
which Central funds
are sanctioned, according to a communiqué from Mr.
Tharoor’s
office
here.The NDRF is a national-level
para-military agency constituted in
2006 following the enactment of

Speaker suspending them
would apply only to the proceedings and their conduct
inside the House and this had
nothing to do with their right
to vote in the RS poll held by
EC. “They have every right
to vote under the provisions
of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951 and no one
can deny them this right,” he
said.
When asked whether the
MLAs could be denied entry, as they were suspended,
and the premises where the
poll was going to take place
comes within the Assembly
precincts, Mr. Acharya said this could not
be done as the EC, for convenience had
fixed the polling venue there (inside Fort
St. George in Chennai). As such the Speak-

and broadcasting minister Manish
Tewari said, “What is happening in
the BJP is their internal matter. It is
a civil war situation playing out like
reality television.” He indirectly projected Modi as a communal leader.
However, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Modi is a very
popular leader because of his governance, because of his integrity,
because of his leadership....”

er had no jurisdiction over the venue of poll
when election was held there, he said.
The six DMDK MLAs — V.C. Chandhira Kumar, P. Parthasarthi, T. Murugesan,
K. Nallathambi, S. Senthilkumar and R.

the Disaster Management Act, 2005
with the objective of meeting manmade or natural disasters in any part
of the country.

Fight against all odds to become unique:
A P J Abdul Kalam to children

Former President A P J
Abdul Kalam today asked
children to fight against all
odds to become unique in the
society as every child has tremendous potential to become
one.
He asked children to set a
goal and find a mentor as the
first step of their endeavour
and strive hard with perseverance to gain knowledge.
“Every child has tremendous potential to become
unique and they should
fight hardest against till they
achieve it,” Kalam told a
gathering of children at Summer Fiesta organised by National Bal Bhawan (NBB) here.
Summer Fiesta is organised
every year by NBB during which
children from every strata gather
to participate in creative activities.
Noted personalities are invited to
interact with the children.
Terming small aim as “crime”,
Kalam said mantra of gaining
knowledge is a combination of
“creativity, righteousness in heart
and courage”.

‘Suspended DMDK MLAs to vote in RS poll’
As the poll is conducted by the Election
Commission and as elected representatives
to the Tamil Nadu Assembly and voters in
the poll, they had every right to exercise
their franchise.
As six suspended MLAs of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) have
knocked the doors of the Madras High
Court seeking a direction to allow them to
vote in the June 27 Rajya Sabha polls from
Tamil Nadu, Election Commission sources
made it clear that no one can deny them
their right to vote.
A senior EC official pointed out that the
poll to the Upper House was conducted by
the Election Commission and as elected
representatives to the Legislative Assembly
of Tamil Nadu and voters in the poll they
had every right to exercise their franchise.
Former Secretary-General of the Lok
Sabha P.D.T. Acharya told The Hindu in
New Delhi on Tuesday that the order of the

Tuesday meeting assumes significance as Advani had resigned
from key party posts expressing his
displeasure at being sidelined over
the Modi issue.
Advani, however, later withdrew
his resignation following a telephonic talk with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and persuasion by BJP leaders.
Meanwyhile, commenting on
the Modi-Advani meet, information

NDRF team in Thiruvananthapuram
to help bridle sea fury

A special unit from the Arakkonam-based battalion of the National
Disaster Response Force (NDRF)
reached the State capital on Monday
to help tackle sea erosion and tidal
wave attack on the coastal belt here.
The unit, a 24-member contingent led by Commandant M.K.
Verma will include an Assistant
Commandant, four team commanders, and 18 personnel. During the
three-day visit to the city, the team
is slated to visit affected areas, make
assessments, consult with the police,
revenue and other officials, and chart
out an action plan that the district
administration can put in place in
times of such crisis to launch effec-

Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh’s advisor T K A Nair will soon
be called by the CBI to record his
statement in the coal blocks allocation scam case even as the agency
summoned as accused former Coal
Secretary H C Gupta and quizzed
two former PMO officials.
CBI sources said agency will
soon call Nair to record his statement
as witness in connection with alleged
irregularities in the allocations made
during 2006 to 2009.
In a related move, CBI has asked

DAILY
ZABARWAN TIMES

Arulselvam — have filed a petition
in the Madras High Court on Tuesday seeking direction from the court
for allowing them to vote in the RS
poll. They also challenged the order
of the single judge of the High
Court who had earlier dismissed
their petition that challenged the
Speaker’s order suspending them
from the House.
The MLAs of DMDK, led by
actor-politician Vijayakant, were
suspended on March 25, 20123,
for a year by Speaker P. Dhanapal,
accepting the findings of the Assembly privileges committee and
after getting the nod of the House,
for allegedly assaulting their fellow
MLA from Radhapuram Michael Rayappan, during the Assembly proceedings on
February 8. Later, the punishment was reduced to six months by the House.

The participants also asked the
former President a wide range of
questions, from rocket science to
his vision about India being superpower in 2020.
Replying to a question about
his ‘Vision 2020’ and taking into
account the present situation of
the country, Kalam said, “For
2020, we have seven years in
hand. If our economy grows by
seven to eight per cent (which
presently is five to six per cent),

then there is possibility to achieve
that goal.”
On how he spends time after
leaving Rastrapati Bhavan, Kalam
said, “I am working on a project Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA) - which would
help six lakh villages of India.
PURA proposes that urban infrastructure and services be provided in rural hubs to create economic opportunities outside of
cities.”

Raja Bhaiya agrees for
polygraph test

The former Minister of Uttar Pradesh,
Raghuraj
Pratap
Singh alias Raja
Bhaiya, has given his
consent to undergo a
polygraph test in connection with the Kunda DSP Zia-ul-Haque murder case,
before the Special CBI court here on
Tuesday. The court reserved its order.
Earlier this month, the CBI moved
an application in the court, seeking
permission for a lie-detector test on
Mr. Singh. In the FIR filed by the
police officer’s wife, Parveen Azad,
the Kunda MLA has been charged
with criminal conspiracy.Mr. Singh
told reporters that he would assist the
CBI. An enquiry should also be con-

ducted to ascertain
why his name was
dragged into the case.
He had always maintained that he would
assist the investigating agency, he said.
Mr. Singh had resigned in the aftermath of the DSP’s
murder at Balipur village in the Kunda
Assembly constituency in Pratapgarh
district on March 2.He was grilled by
the CBI on May 15 and 16. Later, the
investigating agency filed a charge
sheet in the Special CBI court against
14 persons. Mr. Singh’s name was not
in the charge sheet. However, next day
the CBI moved an application, seeking the court’s permission to conduct
a polygraph test on him.